Fighting With Dragons
by Verum
Summary: There is trouble again in the Enchanted Forest. Friends go missing, an enemy returns, and a new power is found.
1. Chapter 1

Hey there party people, it's my first FANFIC! Further chapters will be based on the number of positive responses I receive so R&R. Disclaimer I own none of the characters ( those I do own will have an behind it to let you know it's mine) they are the property of the creative genius P.C. Wrede. I ask that you do not steal my ideas or any characters that I may create along the way. Having said all that ENJOY! (or else, hahaha, just kidding……… or am I?) ;)

Chapter One: In which a warning of danger is disclosed

Daystar gave a heavy sigh, he was lost…again. He and Cinnamore had moved into the castle about three months ago, but he still managed to get lost at least twice a week. The hallway he had wound up in was dark and dingy. Spider webs clung to every protrusion from the wall, swaying in the light breeze that only they seemed to notice. The remaining surfaces were covered in thick layers of dust, giving Daystar's footfalls an ominously muffled echo. It was apparent that no one had been down this way for a while.

Daystar walked on without incident for what seemed like hours, turning down corridors that he thought might lead him to a familiar area of the castle, but to no avail. Then he began to feel the uncomfortable sensation of being watched, but who could possibly be watching him here, in the deserted area of the castle? There was a sudden crunching sound from below his feet. Daystar looked down in surprise, the crisp noise was startling to hear after walking down a dusty hall for what must have been about two hours now.

The cold gray stone of the castle hall had been replaced with the underbrush of the surrounding forest. Daystar looked up and found that the walls too had vanished, leaving the tall trees of the enchanted forest to take their place. Something moved in the trees above him, leaping from branch to branch with incredible dexterity that was both amazing and disturbing.

"Are you going to watch the trees all day?" said a familiar irritated voice.

Daystar brought his attention back to earth. Shiara was standing about five feet in front of him, her arms were crossed and she was tapping her right foot impatiently, Nightwitch was sitting on her left shoulder.

"Something is moving around up there," He said in an apologetically, " I think it's important"

" Well of _course_ there is something up there, it's always been there, but that's not what is important right now."

The thing was still moving through the forest canopy, but now it was shooting through the limbs at a more fevered pace, as if Daystar's mentioning of it had caused the thing to become alarmed. " It can't be good," murmured Daystar to no one in particular.

" So are you coming or not?" shouted Shiara who seemed to have moved another ten feet through the forest and farther away from Daystar. " There are bigger things at stake, and your wasting time. Don't you care that he might be lost?"

"Who's lost!" Daystar shouted back, but Shiara had vanished. "Shiara! Where are you? Who's lost? Shiara!" Daystar shouted as he began fighting his way through the thick bushed that had seemed to spring up in the last five seconds. He fought his way through the brush, but Shiara was still nowhere in sight. Daystar was now slashing his way through with a sword he had never seen before, but he would have to worry about that later he was sure that Shiara was in trouble.

Then, something like a ripple ran through the forest, knocking Daystar backwards onto the ground. There was an unpleasant crinkling sound as Daystar landed, He looked down. The bushes that had impeded his progress through the forest only seconds before were now charred skeletal remains, the trees were nothing but ash, and the moss had turned an ugly shade of brown that he had seen before. A figure cast a shadow moved in front of the now too naked sun, casting its shadow over Daystar.

"Did you think you were being cleaver you little brat!" Demanded the figure in an angry voice. "Did you honestly believe that sending me away would get rid of me forever?" Your just like you father. Alone you can't do much of anything, always relying on your friends, trying to impress them." The figure gave a dark chuckle. "But no matter, I've dealt with your father and mother, as well your pathetic group of friends." The figure moved closer. "And all that remains to be taken care of dear boy, is you." And upon saying this, the figure closed a hand around Daystars throat.

Daystar woke with a start.


	2. Chapter 2

Hey there party people, blah blah blah. It's the second installment, blah blah blah. I own none of these characters, blah blah blah. Further chapters will only be written **_IF_** good reviews are written, so r&r. (blah blah blah) Oh, by the way, this is a little long so make sure you have time to read the whole thing. :-)

Chapter Two: In which everyone is a little tense

Daystar looked feverishly around the room, a cold sweat running down the back of his neck. The dream had been so vivid he might as well have been there; he could still feel the hand around his neck, and a sense of urgency still persisted. Daystar got up from bed and moved to the window gracing the eastern wall of his room. It was early morning, the sun had barely worked its way through the forest and a few stars still speckled the darker areas of the sky. The world outside was peaceful and half asleep, not even the birds were up to greet the day. All the same, Daystar was not at all tired.

"This is useless!" cried Shiara in a fit of frustration, slamming shut the huge magical volume she had been reading. "There is nothing in here that even mentions that stupid sword."

Shiara and Daystar were sitting in the castle library poring over volumes concerning mystical weapons in the hopes of reversing the odd predicament Shiara was in. Although Shiara now lived in the Mountains of Morning as Kazul's princess, despite the fact that she had no royal blood to speak of, she had begun stopping by the castle at least once a week. In the three months since, they had managed to read nearly half of the books in the castle library devoted to this subject, and they had nothing to show for it. Even Daystar had to admit feelings of frustration, although he liked the excuse for spending time with Shiara.

Daystar sighed and stole a look out the window. The afternoon sun was now high in the sky, flooding the canopy of the forest with its rays. A breeze ran through the leaves, taking Daystar back to his nightmare. Daystar's face must have betrayed his feelings of worry.

"And what's wrong with you," Shiara demanded now pulling out yet another volume on mystical weapons from the library's shelf, but sparing a second to glare demandingly at Daystar. "Your not the one who's magic got screwed up by the stupid sword, why are you so upset?"

"What- oh it's nothing." Said Daystar apologetically. "I … just thinking."

Shiara gave an impatient snort and began to read.

"Are you sure you want to work on this so close to the wedding? I mean it's only three days away." Said Mandabar from the hall outside the library, the sound of footsteps drawing near. Daystar heard Telemain give an impatient sigh, he turned in time to see both Mandabar, his father, and Telemain enter the room.

"As I explained to you on the mirror I am only going to execute preliminary trials to determine the exact configuration to be carried out on at a later time. Oh, hello Daystar, Shiara." Said Telemain nodding to each of them in turn.

"Found anything of use yet?" Asked Mandabar picking up a book from their table.

"Unfortunately no," replied Daystar, ignoring Shiara's annoyed glare. "And we've already gone through the more specific areas, so we had to widen our search, but there doesn't seem to be any one who wrote about the sword of the sleeping king."

"Well I'm honestly not surprised," said Telemain now looking over the various books. " The sword of the sleeping king holds no precedent beyond the limits of the forest, only weapons that manage to kill or transform beings or places beyond a single area ever get any mention in such volumes."

"So why has no one written about the sword?" Asked Shiara, a slight look of confusion present on her face.

Telemain sighed, "_Because_, only weapons that can move outside of a certain area and still function properly are the only ones that can be widely realized. Since the sword of the sleeping king-"

"Since the sword can't leave the Enchanted forest no one else knows to write about it." Mandabar finished.

"Exactly."

From across the table Shiara stiffened. "So why don't you work on it?" she asked of Telemain, a slight glimmer of hope in her eyes. "I mean you love stuff like this right?"

Telemain suddenly looked very uncomfortable. "Perhaps…but for now it would be unwise for me to publish such information." Shiara frowned and Telemain added hastily, "But that doesn't mean that I can't help you with the research later, I just have a more pressing study in the works."

"But we can talk about that later." Said Mandabar hastily, cutting of Shiara before she could ask her question.

Just then Willin entered the room looking very upset. "Your majesties, sir, madam." Said Willin, hastily bowing to Mandabar, Daystar, Telemain, and Shiara in turn.

"What's wrong Willin," asked Mandabar, a note of tension in his voice.

"Nothing that greatly concerns your majesty," said Willin, giving Mandabar an apologetic bow, "rather it more directly concerns master Telemain."

"What is it?" Asked Telemain sounding highly confused.

"It is the matter of you wedding sir, your future wife has gone through several of my layouts and decorating instructions, and changed them completely." Willin finished grumpily.

Telemain relaxed a little, "It sounds like this is more of a complaint for Morwen."

"I have addressed the issue with her sir," said Willin his voice hinting on the slight verge of panic, "but she insists on the minimum of almost everything, the food, furniture, seating arrangements-"

"I'll discuss the matter with her later." Interrupted Telemain hastily. "For now keep a hold on your plans."

Willin bowed gracefully and left the room

"How you ever managed to talk me into letting Willin help, I'll never know." Said Telemain giving Mandabar a reproachful glare.

Mandabar laughed, "We'll worry about that another time, but for now I suggest you find the book you came for, then talk this whole wedding ordeal over with Morwen. By the way have you two decided where you are going to live yet, her house or your tower?"

"Yet another issue up for debate, but at the moment not exactly the most pressing one." Replied Telemain, striding over to one of the library's bookcases and peering at its contents. "Aha, here we are." Telemain pulled a silver book from the shelf and tucked it under his arm before Daystar or Shiara could get a good look at it. "Well, I suppose I must be going."

"Tower, or Morwen's house?" asked Mandabar, his eyes focused on the invisible strings of magic.

Telemain thought for a moment, " The tower, I need to drop this off before seeing Morwen." He motioned to the book as he said this.

"Tower it is." Mandabar pulled at the stirrings and Telemain vanished with a slight puff of air.

"Now that that's taken care of…" said Mandabar to no one in particular. "I'm afraid I won't be able to help today," He said in apology to Shiara. "But you can stay as long as you need to, and as always you are welcome to join us at dinner."

"Thanks." Replied Shiara stiffly, and odd look spread across her face. "I'll think about it."

Mandabar wave as he walked out of the library, closing the door behind him. Shiara sat motionless in her seat for a few seconds, as if listening for something. Daystar was about to ask if anything was wrong when she sprung from her seat and walked over to the shelf that Telemain had been inspection only minutes before.

"What are you looking for?" Daystar asked getting up to join Shiara. "All of the books on weapons are in the other corner of the library."

Shiara gave Daystar an irritated glare and returned to inspecting the bookcase. "I want to know what is so dangerous that Telemain should wait till after the wedding for…well this is odd." Said Shiara, her voice drifting off.

"What's odd?"

"This area is devoted to wizards." Replied Shiara waving a hand at the bookcase.

"_What?_"


	3. Chapter 3

Greetings, welcome to my third installment. If you have read the two previous chapters than you know very well that I do not own any of these characters or places mentioned in the chapter below. Further chapters will depend on the number of good reviews I receive (and please feel free to write me if you find something wrong or offensive, how else will I learn?). Enjoy!

Chapter three: In which nothing of much consequence happens

"Why would the castle library have _any _books on wizards?" Shiara demanded of Daystar.

"I don't know." Daystar replied, sounding just as confused as he felt.

Shiara pulled a large leather bound book, entitled_ Wizards, a History_, from the shelfShe flipped rapidly through its pages, glaring as if the book's very existence was an insult to her own. She quickly replaced the book and began scanning the shelves anew, finally pausing at the vacant spot on the bookcase's second shelf.

"I wish I knew which book Telemain took with him…" Shiara mumbled irritably to no one in particular.

"Why?"

Shiara glared at Daystar, "Aren't you even curious to know what Telemain is working on, especially since he is going to wait 'till _after_ the wedding to start?"

"Well…yes but that doesn't mean we can just-"

"Besides," Shiara interrupted hotly, "what could possibly be more important than fixing this stupid politeness spell that you and your stupid sword cast on me?"

Daystar sighed, there was just no reasoning with her when she got like this. He turned back to their research table and began reshelving the various books they had pulled out for study; this caught Shiara's attention.

"Just _what _do you think you are doing!"

"Well we obviously aren't going to get any farther in studying the sword today so we might as well just put…" Daystar trailed off as he happened to glance at one of the pictures in the book that he was reaching for. He set down the other books and began reading the caption below the picture furiously.

"Daystar what is it?" Asked Shiara, moving away from the wizard's bookcase to join him.

Daystar did not reply. The picture itself was nothing special, it was just the simple sketch of a sword. And though the picture was not all that specific in detail, there was no mistaking it. It was the sword from his dream. Though exact size could not be determined, the sword looked to be far shorter than the sword of the sleeping king. It's ornate silver handle held no distinctive markings, save for a tiny translucent jewel nestled at the handle's crest. Disappointingly the only information that the text below offered was the sword's name, The Sword of Ages.

"Well that is really not what were looking for," Said Shiara from Daystar's right, making him jump a little. "Unless that sword has another name that I haven't heard before."

"No, it's just…"

At that moment Willin entered the room. "Your highness, madam." He said, bowing to each in turn. "The chef has informed me that your evening meal is ready and waiting for you in the dining hall."

Shiara stole a quick glance out the window. The sun had now begun melting into the horizon, a mesmerizing array of pinks and purples now painted the sky, eventually fading into the charcoal black of night. "I didn't realize it was so late," said Shiara moving quickly to her chair and snatching up the bag of supplies she had brought with her. "I should get back to the mountains before it gets any darker."

Daystar's heart sank a little. "So, you won't be staying for dinner then…"

"Daystar I'm sorry but I have to get back soon, and besides if I don't head for home now then I won't be able to see anything by the time I finish with dinner." Shiara was now moving towards the door.

"Well you could always spend the night here." Daystar supplied hopefully

Shiara shook her head. "I really need to get back Daystar, I'm sorry, but there is some stuff I want to work on before I go to bed." She turned to Willin. "Willin do you know where the king is?"

Willin looked slightly insulted. "He is in the dinning hall of course." He answered shortly.

"Good, well, see you later." And with that she was out the door.

"Coming, master Daystar?" Asked Willin, watching Shiara walk out with the faintest hint of offense still lingering on his face.

"Tell mother and father I'll be there in a second, I really should clean up here first." Answered Daystar, his voice betraying a slight hint of disappointment.

Willin bowed and left the room.

Daystar gave a heavy sigh and began reshelving the books. It took him awhile, the books were arranged alphabetically which was not a hard system to grasp, but the books were scattered haphazardly about the table making it hard to tell witch volume was to be shelved next. He was halfway done when something outside the window caught his eye. He turned in time to see a pair of slitted eyed staring back at him from the branches of the tree just outside the library's window. But they were only there for a second before the creature in the trees blinked and dissolved into the dark.

Sorry this chapter isn't that great, I've been batteling some major writer's block. I promise that the next chapter will be so much better so please don't give up on me!

Xlan


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